Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams
by theMuse1
Summary: I'm not sure if I'm going to finish this, since no one's reading anyway. So...this may come down soon.
1. In The Beginning

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Disclaimer: Peter Pan is owned by J.M. Berrie. All original characters and scenarios belong to me. 

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Author's Note: Okay, I know I have the habit of starting a story and not finishing it…I'm working on that habit though. All my other stories are coming along. You know what they say; slow and steady wins the race. (I highly recommend you check out my other stories by the way. ;)) So, we'll see how this one goes. It depends on if I feel I can bring the best out of me to write this for you. Alrighty, with that said, Enjoy the story. Oh, and I changed my pen name from Ozma. Just to let you know. 

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Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams 

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Chapter One

* * * 

All children except one grow old. That child is Peter Pan. He was given the gift of everlasting life, a gift never given to anyone before him. The faeries granted him this, bringing him to their enchanted island called Never Neverland. 

Never Neverland was a grand place where all the seasons were rolled into one and there was hardly any space between one adventure and the next. There were more things imaginable there, for it was the land of dreams. It was there that he was taught how to fly and the way of the faeries. 

And Peter was content, for he was king. He ruled over the Lost Children and they loved him and he loved them in return. Everything was peaceful until Captain Hook sailed to the island. Peter had never seen anybody like Captain Hook and his men; he soon learned that they had grown up. He did not mind sharing his island but rather was pleased because he sensed that they brought adventure with them. 

The serenity ended abruptly when Captain Hook and his men took one of the Lost Children from Peter. You see, they hated children and felt no remorse in murdering them. From then on, there was war between Captain Hook and his men and Peter and his Lost Children. This continued on for some time and Peter knew nothing else but killing and bloodshed and loss. 

Nonetheless, Peter loved to have fun and he did so often. He had explored the island many a time, so he marveled in flying aimlessly in the sky. One day, he flew to a place unfamiliar to him. It scared him, for he had never seen things like what he saw there. He learned to stay out of sight and he visited many windows of the people that he discovered. They interested him.

Before entering the Other World, as he called it, he had thought that he understood everything. With this newfound knowledge that he had acquired, he spent more and more time there, watching people who intrigued him. He always brought his companion, Tinkerbell, along for she tried to explain things as best as she could. 

And then he met Wendy, the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen. Peter had often listened in on the adventure stories that she told her brothers. He took her to Neverland and graced her with the magic of the island. He wanted to share everything with her and he did…except immortality. She soon wanted to return home and he granted her wish, taking a few of the Lost Children with her. He too went along. After a short time, he decided to return to Neverland. 

It was not until he returned that he discovered what Wendy really meant to him. He had always loved her but before, he was too juvenile to understand what being in _love was. And that was his predicament. He was in love. He was in love with someone that he could never have, for she would grow up, leaving him forever young. _

Peter went back to Neverland only to find that his Lost Children were in a predicament of their own. Captain Hook had invaded and they were scattered throughout the island. After a time, he gathered all the Children left alive and together they built a new hideout. Years and years passed before Peter felt that everything was secure enough to leave the island. When he finally did, he visited Wendy. 

She had grown older and had a daughter, Jane, but she was still young and beautiful and sweet. She welcomed him and he promised that he would visit at least once a year from then on. He fulfilled his promise for some time, taking Jane to Neverland, but he sensed Wendy growing old. After awhile, he stopped visiting. With great difficulty, he pushed her out of his mind and resumed his activities around the island that pleasured him so, forgetting about her completely. 

One day, he did not know how much later, he remembered her. She came to him in a dream, calling to him hauntingly. Peter went to see Wendy at once, only to find a stranger. The old stranger claimed to be Wendy and he did not believe until he looked into her eyes. 

Confused and hurt, Peter went back to Neverland, vowing never to travel to the Other World ever again. 

Elena Rose Catalina Gonzalez was not a pleasant person. From a young age, her parents submitted to her every whim, leaving her spoiled when they died. She was twelve when she went to live with her great grandaunt in Wessex, England, whom she had never met until then. 

She considered her new life awful. She was never a rebellious child and grew to be very much so seeing that her great grandaunt was not as submissive as her parents were.Her great grandaunt died two years later of a heart attack at the age of one hundred and one.

Ellie, as she was called, had not known whether to be sad. She had not allowed herself to become close to her great grandaunt, convincing herself that she despised her grandaunt. Buried underneath the feelings of hateand loathing, there were also those of caring and gratitude. If her great grandaunt had not taken her in, who would have? Ellie felt sorry about how she had treated her guardian, but she did not cry. She merely apologized to her silently at her funeral. 

Soon she was moved to another relative that she did not know of: her mother's sister in London. Her aunt was a single mother and had two children of her own but was rarely home to spend time with them. Ellie immediately displayed her haughty and rebellious nature to her younger twin cousins. 

Rather than yielding to Ellie's unattractive nature, her cousins turned on her, showing her that they too could be malicious. And they were, for they showed her during the times that she watched them while her aunt was gone. 

She had not a friend in the world and she did not know what to do. 

She was not allowed to continue to be spoiled or rebellious.

Still, she did not cry.

"And so then, we were having it off in his parent's bedroom and—"

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"All three of you?" Ellie questioned incredulously, interrupting her friend Juliette.

"Yes, and—" 

"You _and _Brent_ and _Nicole?"

"_Yes, and—" _

"No, I don't want to hear anymore. That's bloody disgusting. You're only—"

"Fourteen, I know, I know," said Juliette through gritted teeth. Ellie had given her the speech a million times. "It doesn't change no matter how many times you say it, Ellie. I'm sorry to disappoint you." 

Ellie just rolled her eyes. She and Juliette had the strangest friendship. Ellie still could not understand it, even after almost a year of being friends. Juliette slept around with guys and girls and she did not think about the consequences. Ellie would never disrespect herself in that way. Juliette came from an underprivileged broken home with an alcoholic father and was never spoiled a day in her life. Ellie, just getting used to having two younger children around, had to get over always having her way. She was getting better at it. 

It was the oddest friendship ever. What the two had in common was that they were both socially rejected at school. Juliette, excluding her sex buddies, because of her family background and Ellie, because she had no idea how to make friends and doing so mortified her. 

"Besides, Ellie. You're fourteen too."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "You don't see _me_ sleeping around with all of London, do you now? All at _once."_

"Oh, shut up, neither do I." 

The laughter escaping Ellie's lips was soon replaced by a cough. 

"You've had that for a while now, haven't you?" Juliette asked. 

"Not very long."

It was silent and then Juliette said, "Ellie! It's freezing out here, why didn't you bring a coat with you? I told you to. We have a while before we get back to your house and—" 

"I'm fine, Juliette. I felt like…like feeling cold, I guess." She smiled at her nonsense answer and her friend's concern. It was true. They had set off into town and walked and walked and walked to no specific destination. They just walked for the hell of it. Ellie loved the long walks that she and Juliette had. Even though they were surrounded in the crowded streets of London, she didn't care. That time was theirs and only theirs. 

"You're weird, you know that?" Juliette remarked. 

Ellie smiled. "Thank you." She coughed. 

Eyebrows creasing, Juliette did not reply as they continued to walk. 

Peter Pan was dreaming. This was nothing new, for he dreamt the dreams of children from the Other World almost every night. But this dream—this dream was different. 

He was going through the Whispering Wood on foot. Hearing a sound behind him, he went to grab his sword, but it was not there. Instead, he took his dagger from the side of his boot and clutched it in his hand. 

Before he knew it, Captain Hook was before him, leering. Peter jumped in the air, trying to fly but found that he could not. Horror struck, he saw Hook lunge at him with his long, thin sword. Before he could react, it struck him in the heart and he began to scream, trembling with pain. Hook laughed. 

Peter shook awake, panting and clutching his chest where his heart was. Looking down, he saw that he had not been pierced. He jumped out of bed and used the ground to push off. Good. He could still fly. In his anxiousness, he pushed off a little too hard and hit his head against the ceiling. Rubbing his head, he looked beside the bed to find that his sword was still there.

Then, he sat down and thought about his dream. Should he tell Tinkerbell? She might have been able to comfort him. But, he wasn't sure if he felt like talking about it. He was still shaken by his dream. It had felt so real, even now that it was over. 

Wendy. 

The name popped into his head and before he knew it, he was tapping on the little door to Tinkerbell's apartment. It was not actually an apartment, but rather a small, old coo-coo clock that Peter had fixed for her to live in. He had stolen it on one of his adventures in Buccaneer Banor, the pirates' town. 

"Tink," he whispered loudly. "Tinkerbell…_Tinkerbell!" _

"Oh Peter, what is it?" she demanded, angrily wiping the sleep from her eyes as she opened her door. When she spoke, it sounded much like the jangling of little bells.

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it abruptly. Tinkerbell would think that he was silly for waking her up to tell her about his dream and that he missed Wendy—

"Peter?" Tinkerbell called gently, seeing the hesitant look on his face. "Peter, what's the matter?"

"Tink, I…nothing." He turned around to go back to bed but Tink had beaten him to it. She waited for him on his pillow. 

"I know when there's something the matter with you," she persisted. 

"I guess you're losing your touch then, huh," he grumbled, grabbing the shirt on the floor beside his bed and hurriedly putting it over his bare torso. Instead of going back to bed, Peter climbed the stairs out of his underground hideaway. 

"Where are you going?" Tinkerbell called after him. She began flying to catch up to him. 

"Leave me alone, Tink. I don't need you. Not right now." He flew up the rest of the flight of stairs and did not stop until he was out of his burrow and into the night. He flew and landed on a high tree branch, far from his home. He wanted to be alone. 

"I hate you," he said aloud to himself, thinking about Wendy. "I hate you. _I hate you!" _Peter yelled, shouting into the darkness. He remembered a long time ago when he would cry. Looking back, he thought about how painful it had been to be without her. And it still was. 

Many a time he would forget all about her and his time in the Other World, going on as if none of it, or her, had ever happened. And sometimes, he would lie awake all night thinking about her and how confused he was about the emotion that he felt. It was so much easier saying that he hated her rather than that he loved her. 

So he continued in his rage, fists flying, arms kicking, voice carrying, until he was left panting and lost. 

And still forlorn.

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Feedback is MORE than welcome. Thanks for reading. 

November 10, 2002

Copyright theMuse


	2. Why, I'm Peter Pan

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Author's Note: Yes, the highly anticipated chapter two is here. Pssh, yeah, right. I really wish this section were more popular. How can you all not like Peter Pan? Peter Pan is my childhood. Don't tell me that you didn't watch Peter Pan and the Pirates. I remember, back in '92, when I used to watch that show. Ah, the good 'ol days.

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Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

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Chapter Two

* * * 

The next four days went by slowly for Ellie. She went to school, came home, watched the twins, went to school, came home, watched the twins, and the whole cycle went on again. But the fifth day was different. 

It was her birthday. 

Her aunt awoke her with a kiss on the forehead, which caused her to believe that she was dreaming. After a few moments of her aunt actually conversing with her, which was a rarity, she realized that she was awake. That was about the time when the twins came bounding in. A boy and a girl. They were eight. From the way they were acting, it was inferred that her aunt had talked them into being nice to her for once. She figured that a trip to Yacky Wacky Toys was in store for them later. 

After the twins had left the room to get ready for the day, her aunt had asked to speak with her. 

"You already are," said Ellie, being smart. She coughed.

"Ellie, I know that you probably would have had your quinceanera and everything—"

Ellie held up a hand and shook her head. "It's alright. I hadn't even thought about it." And it was true. She hadn't. Ellie's father was Puerto Rican. It would have been traditional for her to have a large party for her fifteenth birthday. Because her aunt was her mother's sister, she had not planned for it. 

"Alright, because I don't want you to think that I forgot…I just…honey, I didn't forget. I just never mentioned—"

"Aunt Felicia, I don't care. It's okay."

Her aunt bit her lip. "You know, you can stay home from school today if you want to," she offered as if for compensation. 

"Sounds good to me," said Ellie. At that, her aunt left without so much as a goodbye. "Bye, have a nice day at work," Ellie grumbled after her. She flopped backwards onto her bed, but not before she opened her balcony doors. She needed some fresh air.

She wished that she could be like her aunt. Her aunt was beautiful with perfect ebony skin and large brown eyes. She strongly resembled Ellie's mother, which was comforting in a way. Sighing, she turned over. Her aunt could just disregard things. It seemed like she didn't think about anything at all except work and keeping the twins quiet. Ellie wished that she could be like that—just forget everything. 

Ellie thought things. Dark things. She thought about things such as what it would be like to kill someone...feel their life bleeding away in her hands. She thought about it so much that she sometimes would obsess over death and could not think of anything else no matter how much she strained. It upset her. 

Two nights before, Ellie had a dream. She dreamt that she was walking through a forest. After aimlessly walking, she heard laughing. It was cruel and cold, like an icicle piercing skin. Taking a chance, she changed directions and walked towards the laughter. The sight she saw caused her to gasp. 

Before her was a boy. He was wriggling, clutching his chest. As she neared him, she saw why. The hand clutching his chest was placed over his heart, trying to stop the escaping blood, but it was in vain. Kneeling beside him, she placed her own hands on his one, pressing down in an attempt to help him contain what little fluid he had left. 

She saw his eyes widen in confusion. "E-Ellie…Ellie Rose?" he croaked. Ellie only nodded, now just as confused as his green eyes told her that he was. She kept eye contact, even as his began to glaze over…

Nobody had called her Ellie Rose except for her parents. No one, besides Juliette and her aunt knew that her middle name was Rose. She had not had much time to think it over. Now that she was home alone, she did so. She continued to do so even as she fell asleep. 

"Tell me why!" Tinkerbell demanded, pulling on Peter Pan's short ponytail. "You promised yourself you wouldn't go back—"

"You wouldn't understand," Peter muttered. 

"Wendy's dead by now!" She saw Peter flinch as she said these words and immediately, she wished that she hadn't. Or at least, found a not as harsh way to say it. "Peter…" she sighed. 

"Look, Tink, I'll tell you the reason I'm going back when I get back to Neverland. It's not because of Wendy. It's just something I have to do." 

"No. It's something you _want _to do."

Tinkerbell was wrong. It was something he had to do. He had the dream again, except it was longer this time. He had seen a girl that had been in his dreams four times before. At the end of this recent dream, she had come to his aid but he had died too quickly for her to help. 

He shuddered at the thought of himself dying. 

The part that confused him was this: was she dreaming of him or was he dreaming of her? And if she was dreaming of him…why? He would find her. He had dreamt about her before so he knew a bit about her. Enough to find her. He just wanted some answers. Or, he at least wanted to see this girl for himself. 

"You're wrong, Tink. I'll come back as soon as I can. Tell Inkson that he's in charge while I'm gone." He flew off into the air, determination written in his flight pattern. 

"You'd better not come back with another one or there will be hell to pay!" Tinkerbell called after him. Watching him finally fade away, she sighed. 

After a long time, Peter Pan crossed into the Other World. He felt tingly all over. It had been so long since he had crossed the boundary, that he was surprised that he had remembered the way. London, it seemed, did not take very long to reach. From his bird's eye view, he could see that it had changed drastically. There was so much that he did not recognize.

Wendy.

He had to go and see her. But what if Tinkerbell was right? What if she_ was _dead? Could he handle it? He had to muster the courage, be a man—boy—and see her. So, without a second thought, he made the long awaited visit to Wendy's window. 

It was closed. Wendy had never closed it, even at night, which it was now. She had told all the occupants of the room to keep it open. He peered through the window, which was covered by a sheer curtain attached to the other side of it. Peter could make out a sleeping form in one of the beds. Sitting beside the bed was a lady in a rocking chair. Could it be? It _had _to be—

"Wendy!" he called out, knocking on the window. _"Wendy!" _Alarmed, the woman looked up and came to the window. As it opened, Peter could see her face fill with shock as his was. He drew back. 

"Peter…oh Peter, I'm sorry that the window was closed, but you see, Angela has a dreadful cold." The woman gestured towards the bed. Peter glanced at her, the bed, and then back at her again. 

"Jane?" he whispered. It was amazing how much she had changed since the last time he had seen her. She had been a little girl, about eleven. Now she was old and gray.

She smiled. "Yes, Peter. It's me. I've missed you." 

"Is that your daughter?"

"No, it's my granddaughter. She lives with me." 

Peter flew into the room and sat on the bed beside her, gazing at her. She had Wendy's nose. "And Wendy?" he asked, not looking up from Angela. 

"Peter…"

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"And Wendy?" He stood up, looking at Jane. He could see the tears forming in her eyes and that is when he understood.

Wendy was dead.

Peter nodded his head, looking back at the bed. He knelt down and kissed Angela on the forehead. "You'll tell her that I was here, won't you?" he whispered. 

"Yes, Peter. She will be so delighted. I've told her so much about you—" She was cut off when Peter flew away without so much of a goodbye. 

"I'm so sorry, Peter," Jane said to herself. She closed the window. 

Ellie jolted awake, feeling the crisp chill of wind coming in through the open balcony. She saw that it was night and looked at her watch. Nine past nine. She couldn't believe that she had slept all day. Why couldn't she hear the twins? 

She coughed, feeling mucus coming up. After deciding to take a trip to the bathroom to let it all out, she went downstairs and found a note on the refrigerator that read,

****

Ellie,

Took the twins to Yacky Wacky and Pita's Fun Palace, don't know when we'll be back. We'll probably eat at Pita's. There's lasagna in the freezer.

Ellie crumpled the paper and threw it behind her, bounding back upstairs. It was _her _birthday and the _twins _were getting presents? _And_ she was stuck with frozen leftovers? 

When she reached her room, she turned on the overhead light, but felt cold so she went to close the balcony doors. Instead, Ellie stepped out onto her balcony gazed out at the sight. She had a good view of the neighborhood from here. Sighing, she said, "I hate my life."

"Why?" The voice belonged to a boy whose head peered at her, upside down, from the roof.

Startled, Ellie shrieked and turned around, looking up at him. She then stumbled backwards, nearly falling. "Oh my God," she whispered to herself. "Is that…that's impossible!" she exclaimed, eyes widening as the boy flipped over and landed onto her balcony. Her jaw dropped. "Stay back!" she warned, holding her hand out. She gripped the balcony ledge, which she was leaning on. 

A curious look appeared on his face and after a long time of staring at each other, he said, "Why are you afraid of me?" 

"You…but how…I must be dreaming," she finally concluded. She pinched herself. "C'mon, c'mon, wake up," she commanded herself when he didn't go away. She began to pat her cheeks repeatedly. 

"It's funny you should say that," he remarked, "because that's what I've come to talk to you about. A dream." 

Ellie took a good look at him. He was taller than her and handsome. The freckles strewn across his nose caused him to have a cute, boyish look about him. His hair was auburn and was held behind him in a small, stub of a ponytail. He wore the strangest clothing; it was as if he were dressed in green and brown leaves. And his eyes—they were green. She recognized them. 

"Tell me I'm dreaming," she pleaded. "Please tell me that I'm dreaming." 

"You're not, Ellie Rose. Unless I am, but I really don't think so."

"Who are you?" she demanded, drawing back. 

"Why, I'm Peter Pan."

I hope you enjoyed reading. Thanks.

November 15, 2002

Copyright theMuse


	3. The Unbeliever

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Author's **Note:** I don't' know what it is about this story, but I like it. And I should, shouldn't I, because it's my story? You know how it's discouraging when you don't get many reviews for a story? Even so, I think that I'll still continue. I'm attracted to it. Have you ever written and were like, "Wow, I can't believe I wrote this?" Yeah, sort of like that…except not. It's not exactly like that for this story, but close. Alright. I'm done rambling.

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Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

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Chapter Three

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"No way," was the first thing that Peter heard Ellie say. "Peter Pan? Give me a _break!_ Did my aunt hire you? Is this some kind of birthday scheme because I'm really, _really_ not buying it," she laughed. "I thought she would be able to do better than this. I thought she was way more creative than this. She has two eight-year-old twins, for God's sake! You'd really think—"

"Girls talk too way much," Peter noted, not for the first time. This comment seemed to startle Ellie, for she stopped talking all together. It was not what she expected him to say. 

"You are _not _Peter Pan."

"Why not?"

"Because…well…you can't even fly!"

"I can't fly, you say?" Effortlessly, he rose into the air, leaving Ellie's mouth agape. "So as I was saying before, I came to talk to you about a dream that I—"

"Dream?" she interrupted. Crossing her arms across her chest, she said, "You really don't have to keep going with this. The gig's up. How much is my aunt paying you? Aunt Felicia!" she called, walking into her room. "Aunt Felicia! She must be around here somewhere, laughing at me."

"Look, can I just talk to you for a moment? This is important." He followed her.

"_You _look," she said, poking him in the chest. "This is the _worst _birthday that I have ever had! You haven't made it any better. Just leave. I'm sure you've collected your money and if not, I'll tell my aunt to call you and—"

"Why can't you just listen?" Peter exploded, getting in her face. Shortly after his little outburst, tears began to form in his eyes. He turned his back on her, wiping them away as they fell. Perhaps coming to the Other World was not the best idea. He had already been disappointed once and he was finding another disappointment. 

Ellie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. Why would he be crying? Could he be telling the truth? She _had_ seen him fly, after all. It was a confusing moment. 

"P-Peter," she said reluctantly, gently resting her arm on his shoulder. He brushed her off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…well, at first I didn't believe you and I'm not saying that I do now…well, maybe I do, but—"

"Wendy's dead," came the mumbling through tears. He had cried all the way there and had stopped just as he had sight of Ellie's balcony. 

"Wendy? Wendy…oh, Wendy...Peter, it'll be all right. Trust me. My parents died and—and I'm living through it. You'll be fine." She only wished that she could convince herself of what she was saying.

Something about the way she said it made him believe her. He would be fine, wouldn't he? He had gotten by all those years without seeing Wendy, hadn't he? He would be okay. 

"Don't cry anymore, okay?"

"I'm not crying," he said, wiping away his tears and sniffing. He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted off into the air, hanging in front of her as if hanging upside-down from a set of monkey bars, scrutinizing her. 

She was not anything like Wendy. While her eyes were hazel, her hair was dark brown and just barely reached her shoulders. She was a great deal shorter than he, who stood at five foot eight. "Why are you so small?" he bluntly asked. 

Ellie frowned. She hated when people made comments about her tiny frame. At a solid five feet, she was often said to look the size of a little twelve-year-old girl. "I'm not small," was her answer. "I'm just…vertically challenged." He continued to examine her while she strived to not look him in the eye. Finally, she swatted him away, saying, "Stop it. It's rude to stare, you know that?" 

"Pardon me." He landed right side up in front of her. 

And that's when she knew where she recognized him. She saw his eyes for a second time and knew. "Peter?" 

"Yes?"

It was so strange. She had just accepted it the fact that he was here, claiming to be Peter Pan, in her bedroom, intruding without explanation. Just like that. It was so..._strange_. So unlike her. But she did know one thing and that was that her heart was beginning to believe him, but her brain still needed some convincing. 

"Ellie Rose?" Peter examined the girl. She was thinking hard about something. He tried snapping his fingers in front of her. "Ellie Rose?" 

She broke out of her stupor. "Oh...yes. It's just that, you look so strangely familiar, that's all." 

"From where?" he asked, curious. 

A dream, she wanted to say. 

"A dream perhaps?" 

Ellie stared at him, eyes extremely wide. How had he known? He was holding off a great deal more than she thought, like how he knew her name, for starters. 

Peter was smitten with himself. "Oh, don't be so surprised," he said, sitting in Indian-style in the air. "I've had dreams with you in them a thousand times." 

"Y-You have? But how is that possible?" 

"Well, you've dreamt about me, right?"

"Right, but—"

"So when you dream about me, I dream the dream that you dream." 

Tilting her head to the side, she displayed a look of confusion.

Peter gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head, placing his arm on his leg and supporting his head with it. "Are you that dumb?"

Agitated, Ellie said, "You come here, confusing the hell out of me with this nonsense talk about dreams a-and-and you call me dumb when I don't get it? Hell, I'm still not sure if I'm in a dream or not!" She stopped briefly to cough a few times. "You flew into _my _room, meaning you're under _my _rules and they don't include being a pain in my ass cheek!" Exasperated, she went to the window, turning her back on him. She so badly wanted to be able to grasp what was going on. 

Shocked, Peter's face was adorned with the same confused look that Ellie had shown moments before. Girls in the Other World didn't act like that. Girls in the Other World were nice and harmless and didn't call him names. Girls in the Other World loved him. All of them. There was something wrong with her. "What's wrong with you?" he asked her quietly. 

"Hmm, let's think about that for a moment, shall we?" she snapped. "You're just like the kids at my school. You think you're better. Well, you're not, if nobody's told you that already. You're stuck up." 

Stuck up? Him? Never. 

"All I wanted to talk to you about was my dream."

"We can talk after you get an attitude adjustment." 

Attitude adjustment? "I'm sorry, if an apology is what you're asking for." 

Ellie turned just enough so that he could see her profile. "It's okay," she mumbled. "Now, how 'bout we start over. First of all, how do you know my name?" 

"I've dreamt about you before," came his simple reply. 

She turned completely around, facing him. "How is that possible?" she repeated. 

"Well," Peter started, scratching his head. "When a child from this world dreams, I dream it. Occasionally I have dreams of my own, but most of the time it's not a dream of mine."

"So you're saying that you've dreamt about me before...because of a dream that I was having?"

"Right. But I've had two dreams recently where—"

"You died." 

"Yes. But here is what I want to know: Why?"

"How am I supposed to know?" The answer was that simple. 

Ellie was right. How _was _she supposed to know? "I just don't understand it," he continued. "You couldn't have known what Hook looks like because you haven't seen him, which means it was my dream. But why were you in it?" 

Ellie shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she did not know the answer. In fact, she did not know what to say at all. 

This was a stupid idea. He should have never have come. Why had he thought that she would know the answers? But something had told him to come, something that he couldn't put his finger on, but he had felt it and that had been enough motivation. "Ellie Rose, I'll leave you alone now." 

She nodded, watching him turn around and lift off, but then slowly float back down. 

"Why did you say that you hate your life?" 

"Oh…because…I don't like being sad all the time." 

"Sad? What for?"

"You know that I'll wake up tomorrow and think that this was all a dream?" She started towards her bed, yawning. "You'd better go, Peter. I'm getting awfully tired." Coughing and climbing into bed, she turned over, not caring to see him fly away to Never Neverland. 

Well…yeah.

November 20, 2002

Copyright theMuse


	4. The Proposal

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Author's Note: My story's not doing too well, but that's okay. I like it and that's all that matters. So, if anybody's actually even reading this, please let me know what you think. Thanks. 

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Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

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Chapter Four

* * *

She was wrong. She knew that it wasn't a dream. Even days later, she still knew that it wasn't a dream. And she hated this knowledge. 

"What a git," she mumbled. 

Juliette stopped her speed talking at once. "Who's a git?" The two of them were in Juliette's room. 

"Oh," said Ellie, startled that she had been heard. "No one." She had been referring to Peter, but, of course, would never tell her friend that. Juliette would think that she was mad and that was the last thing that she needed: her only friend thinking that she was crazy. 

Rolling her eyes, Juliette said, "Whatever. As I was saying..." she drifted off into her chatter once again. 

Peter Pan. There were two possibilities. The first one was that she actually _had _dreamt that Peter Pan came to _her_ window out of all the windows in the world and spoken to _her_ out of all the hers in the world. The idea had been stirring her mind continuously. Her conclusion, which she had reformed several times, was that it was indeed not a dream. 

That meant that the second possibility applied. Peter Pan had visited her. And he was a git. Now he had her thinking about him non-stop. She had even gone to the library to borrow Peter and Wendy, which she felt extremely stupid in doing. 

Juliette sighed, gazing at her friend. She was worried. Ellie had been acting strangely for the past few days, acting a bit out of it and spacing out occasionally. This was one of those occasions. Maybe she wasn't feeling well. She did have that cold brewing before and perhaps it had gotten worse. Though, she hadn't noticed anything. Juliette leaned forward and with the back of her hand, touched Ellie's forehead.

"What are you doing, Juliette?" asked Ellie, swatting her away.

Her forehead felt cool. That was a good sign. "Ellie, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Because you've been acting weird lately and I remember how you were coughing before." 

"It's much better now. It's virtually gone." 

"Oh. Well, Ellie, my father's coming home soon."

Ellie knew what that meant. She thought that Juliette's father was a little nutters. He threw things and yelled at Juliette for no reason. She knew that he beat her sometimes, but Juliette would never admit it. "You can come home with me," Ellie offered.

"No, that's okay. I have to make dinner." 

Nodding, Ellie bid her friend goodbye and left. When she arrived home, her aunt was clearing the table and the twins were fighting over what program to watch on TV. 

"Ellie, I didn't think you'd be home for dinner so I didn't make you any," her aunt said distractedly. "But there's some frozen macaroni and cheese left from yesterday's dinner, if you'd like to heat that up." 

Rolling her eyes, Ellie went up to her room. She wouldn't really call it a room. It was rather small, but since it had a balcony, she did not mind. After she had switched on her light, she found her copy of Peter and Wendy and without bothering to take off her shoes, flopped onto her bed belly first. She flipped through the pages and momentarily, found what she was looking for. 

It was a picture of Peter. Ellie gazed at it, running her hands over it, gently. She smirked. He looked far different in the picture than he actually did. The only thing that was accurate was his hair color. "I wish I could just fly away like you, Peter," she whispered. 

Ellie sat up and stared at her balcony doors for a long time before getting off of her bed. She turned off her light and went to the balcony, taking her book with her. It was unusually warm for winter in London that night, but she was chilly anyway. Closing the balcony doors after her, she walked to the railing and set the book on the ground. The cold iron underneath her fingertips felt good. It felt like death. 

That was the reason that she was out there, wasn't it? To fly away. Forever. 

Peter sat Indian-style on the roof above Ellie's balcony with Tinkerbell on his shoulder. She did not speak. She had not spoken the entire way there and he could tell that she was angry. Her light had been alternating from white to red. Switching his head to rest on his other hand, a sigh escaped his lips. He was debating on whether he should knock on Ellie's balcony doors. Why shouldn't he? After all, he had flown all that way. But he could think of a thousand reasons why he shouldn't knock and he was sure that Tinkerbell could think of a million more for him. 

It wasn't that he was getting attached to Ellie, it was just that when he heard her say that she was sad all the time, it perplexed him. No one could be sad all the time, not even he was sad all the time. Neverland helped him forget and he was sure that if he could forget, then Ellie could too. He was there to make her that offer. 

But the tricky part was this: Peter did not want to get attached. He had gotten attached to Wendy and had been greatly fond of Jane since the first time he had met her, but made sure that it did not get to the point of where it had gotten with Wendy. For his own sanity, there could never be another Wendy because he knew what would happen. At the end, she would want to go back home. And he would not be able to go with her. 

That's what always happened. Twice was always enough. He wasn't even sure if Ellie liked him. She had not seemed to. 

And so, he continued to sit on the roof and think until he heard something. Startled, his first instinct was to hide and he did so, flattening himself against the roof so that he could peer over the edge without being seen. Tinkerbell did the same and he could see that she had cooled off, for when she lit up, her light was a consistent white color. 

It was Ellie. She had a book in her hands, which she soon set down. What is she doing, he wondered as she began to climb onto the balcony railing. She spread her arms so that she looked like a cross. 

She was going to fall. Peter did not think another thought as he flew and scooped her into his arms. Surprised, she immediately began to flail her arms and legs about, causing Peter to drop her onto the balcony. Ellie landed smartly on her bottom, he landing also, but on his feet.

After watching her sit there blankly for a few minutes, Peter asked, "Are you all right, Ellie Rose?" 

Angrily, Ellie replied, "What'd you go and do that for, you stupid git!" 

Peter was taken aback. He had just saved her life and he said so. 

"But I didn't want that, Peter! I was trying to end it!" 

"End it? Why would you do a thing like that?" 

"Oh, never mind," she said, exasperated. She turned away from him. "You wouldn't understand. I guess I'm not meant to die now." 

Peter let his head fall. Hadn't he done the right thing? Tinkerbell landed on his shoulder. "It's all right," she said to him. "Don't worry about her. Let's go home, okay?" 

"What was that?" Ellie said, turning around sharply. Tinkerbell hid behind Peter so that Ellie could not see her light. 

"Ellie Rose...are...are you crying?" Peter questioned upon seeing the tear tracks on her face. He was again confused. 

"No," she replied, rubbing her eyes. "But what was that? I heard something." 

"Oh, that was just Tinkerbell. Come on out, Tink." There was a jangle of bells. 

"There it was again. She said something. What did she say?"

"She said…" Peter strained to think of something to say in place of what she had _really _said. Tinkerbell had said that she was a stupid girl and that she didn't know why Peter would waste his time flying back to her. "She said hello." 

"No I didn't, Peter!" Tinkerbell screamed and Ellie understood her perfectly. She flew from behind him. "I said you're stupid. Why would Peter come all that way just to see _you_? You're even uglier than W-Jane!" Tinkerbell caught almost blurted out Wendy's name, but caught herself to spare Peter's feelings. 

"Tinkerbell..." Peter warned. Tinkerbell just "humpfed" and crossed her arms across her chest. She hid a smug smile, expecting the girl to get angry. Instead, Ellie threw her head back and laughed. 

"She's got quite an attitude, hasn't she?" Ellie remarked. 

"You're not upset?" asked Peter as he cocked his head. 

"Upset? No. The girls at school are worse. I don't care." 

"Really? Wendy would have been plenty upset."

"Well," she said with a small smile, "I guess that's the difference between me and Wendy." 

Peter looked at her thoughtfully. It was amazing how her mood had changed just like that. He definitely had never met anyone like her. 

Ellie picked up her book and as Peter saw this, his face lit up. He lovedbooks. Ever since he had learned to read and write, he read any time he got the chance. "What's the name of that book?" 

"Oh..." Ellie looked down at it. "This? You wouldn't be interested. It's nothing exciting."

"Can I see it?"

"Well..."

"Please?" 

Upon seeing his pleading eyes, Ellie reluctantly handed him the book, although when he went to take it from her, it was a struggle, for she would not let go. She couldn't bear to watch his reaction. 

"Peter and Wendy," he read aloud, slowly flipping through it when he had finally pried it from her hand. When he saw the picture of himself, he grinned. "Is that supposed to be me? Ha! And to think, I thought that you didn't like me." 

"I don't." 

"Then why are you reading about me?" 

She hesitated, giving Peter enough time to let out a laugh. "Wow, they wrote a book about me? I didn't know I was _that _great. Wait, yes I did." 

Ellie let out a snort. "You're conceited. Has anyone ever told you that?" 

"Sure, plenty of times." Lifting off into the air subconsciously, he sat in Indian-style and began to read the book. Tinkerbell was still glowering beside him. "They're all wrong, though. So when did they write this book about me?" 

"Early nineteen hundreds, I think. How did you learn to read?"

"Wendy," he said distractedly. "I can write too." He said this proudly. 

After what seemed like a long silence, Ellie spoke again. "Why did you come back?"

Peter did not look up from his book. His mind was racing. Should he tell her the truth, or should he bid her farewell and fly back to Neverland while he still had the chance? "Oh, you know. I was in the neighborhood." Tinkerbell snorted, not unnoticed by Ellie. 

"So why were you "in the neighborhood?""

"I don't know. Just because." 

"_Oh_, I see now. You flew all the way from Neverland to come to London just because."

"Yup."

"That's bullshit." 

Looking up, Peter's mouth dropped. 

__

"Ow!" screamed Ellie, her hands flying to the back of her head. 

"Watch your mouth!" shouted Tinkerbell, face to face with her. 

"Why, you little—"

"Aw, leave her alone, Tink. The Lost Children swear all the time." He just was not expecting to hear it from this girl. 

"And do you know where they get it from? Those pirates! I tell you children time and time again not to go to Buccaneer Banor but do you listen?" Tinkerbell retorted in her bell language. 

"It's okay, Peter. She's not even brave enough to say what she just said so that I can understand her," said Ellie. 

"I'm plenty brave," Tinkerbell said, allowing Ellie to understand. "And I have a lot more than that to say—" 

"Quiet! The both of you!" cried Peter in a loud whisper. "Do you want to somebody hear us?" 

"Don't worry, my aunt doesn't care. If she heard a stampede of elephants coming from up here, she would ignore it." She grew silent and Peter could see that she was troubled. It was time, he decided, for him to make his proposition. 

"Ellie Rose? I've come to ask you to come with me to Never Neverland." He could see Tinkerbell's light gradually turning red, but he did not care. 

"What did you say?"

"You see," he continued. "When you told me that you were sad all the time, well, I thought that if you came with me to Neverland, you wouldn't be sad all the time. It's almost impossible to be sad there." He tentatively waited for her answer. 

Ellie could feel Peter's eyes on her as she looked out over the balcony. The short amount of time that he was with her had been eventful. He had saved her life and even though she did not want to admit it to him, she was very glad that he did. And she had been so embarrassed when she finally handed him over the book, but he was so delighted; she thought it rather cute. 

The only real problem was Tinkerbell. She was a pest, constantly speaking in and out of her fairy language. But, Ellie had to admit that she was beautiful. She had longish, fiery red hair and wore almost the same attire as Peter. If she wasn't such an annoyance, Ellie could almost conceive the idea of liking her. 

Now, Peter was asking her to come to Neverland with him. Neverland. With him. That was crazy. It was beyond crazy. It was insane. And yet, she could almost grasp the thought of herself in Neverland. She could almost come to measures with it even. 

"You could just try it out and see," she heard him say, voice sounding small. "I can bring you back if you would like me to."

"You don't know what you're asking," she said, quietly. He did not answer. It was true. He did not know what he was asking. He _had _said that he could bring her back. What was preventing her from saying yes? Juliette? Yes, but she had other friends. Her aunt? Her aunt did not care about her. Ellie could see it in her eyes. The only reason that she had taken her in was because "it was the right thing to do." 

Nothing. There was nothing to stay for.

"I guess I'll be going then." 

"Yes."

"What was that?"

"I said, yes." He just stared at her and Ellie rolled her eyes. "What are you just standing there for? I said I'll go with you to Neverland." 

Peter's face broke out into a wide smile. "You mean it Ellie Rose? You'll come?" 

"Yes, yes. Now hurry up and fairy dust me or whatever before I change my mind," Ellie growled, trying to hide a smile. It was hard because Peter's was contagious. 

"Think a happy thought."

It should have been easy, should it not have? It should have taken a minimum of five seconds. But for Ellie, this was not true. She could not think of a happy thought. 

"What's wrong, Ellie Rose?" 

"I can't," she whispered. 

"What?"

"I said I can't. I can't think of a happy thought."

Any constructive criticism or comments of any kind are welcomed. Thanks for reading. 

November 30, 2002

Copyright, theMuse 


	5. Plucked From The Sky

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Author's Note: This is long overdue, but here it is…thank you to all nine of you who are actually reading this story. And thank you, Dilandra and Rebel-Tomboy, for putting it on your fave's list. It's much appreciated. 

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Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

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Chapter Five

* * * 

Peter stared at Ellie, cocking his head to the side. He waited for her to tell him that she was joking. She _had _to be joking. When she did not laugh, he began to. Maybe it would encourage her to. 

"It's not funny!" cried Ellie. She was annoyed. 

Abruptly, Peter stopped laughing. "Oh…you're not joking?"

"Why would I joke about a thing like that?" 

"Well, I thought…well, everyone can think of a happy thought!" He could hear Tinkerbell laughing her little bell laugh and was sure that it was out of joy. Now Ellie could not come with them. 

"Just give me a minute, okay?" requested Ellie. She began to think, crossing her arms across her chest. Perhaps if she closed her eyes, it would help her think better…she had it! It was Juliette. She could confidently say that Juliette was her only source of happiness. "I've got it," said Ellie quietly. 

"Good. Now, hold it. Tink, you know what to do." 

Tinkerbell did not move except to cross her arms across her chest. 

"Tinkerbell," Peter said warningly.

She continued to ignore him. 

"You're banished. For a _month_." 

Growling, Tinkerbell flicked a few particles of fairy dust over Ellie's head.

Sighing exasperatedly, Peter grabbed the fairy and shook her, holding his hand out to catch the falling fairy dust. Then, he blew the dust onto Ellie, whose nose twitched as it blew into her face. 

"Hey, you blew it right into my—"

"Concentrate!"

"Alright!" She squeezed her eyes shut, balling her hands into fists as she did so. It was not working. Impatiently, Ellie opened her eyes. "Why isn't it—oh my God! _Oh my God!_" 

Peter smiled as he watched Ellie kick her feet in delight as she floated higher and higher above the ground. 

"Peter, this is great! This is—this is—hey! How do I get down?" 

"Stop thinking about your happy thought!" shouted Tinkerbell so that Ellie could understand her. 

"No!" cried Peter, but it was too late. Ellie had already cleared her mind and she fell to the balcony below her. Catching her in time, Peter set her down upright. 

Angrily, Ellie advanced on the fairy, who flew just out of her reach. Peter held her in place, trying to prevent her from grabbing Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell in turn proceeded to blow a raspberry at the girl. 

"You little—"

"Tinkerbell, why did you do that?" demanded Peter, interrupting Ellie. 

Not waiting for an answer, Ellie growled and pushed Peter away, giving up. She would get that fairy sooner or later. 

Peter looked tentatively between Tinkerbell and Ellie. He could almost see the steam coming from Ellie's ears. "Look, Ellie Rose," he started. "We can try again."

Ellie sighed and nodded. She closed her eyes again as Peter grabbed a hold of Tinkerbell and shook her, gathering fairy dust in his extended hand. Once again, he blew it at her and once again, she began to float. "Now," said Peter, grabbing her hand so she did not float too far away. "Just make sure you don't forget your happy thought."

"But how do I get down?" 

"I don't know. You just…do. Just think that you want to go down and you will. Try it."

"Okay." She did.

"See, that was easy. Alright, let's go." He lifted off into the air. 

"Wait!" 

"What?"

"I…" Ellie looked back at her window. There was a chance that she would never see this place ever again. What was she thinking? Did she _really _want to go off with some anonymous boy to "Neverland?" Did she know what she was doing? The butterflies in her stomach and her racing heart told her that she did not.

But she also did not care.

"Nothing," she replied. 

Peter extended her hand to her and she ignored it, passing him. "Well, are we going?" she asked haughtily.

This is a terrible idea, Tinkerbell thought to herself. 

"Quickly, boy!" 

"Oh, shut ye hole." 

"_What_ did ye say?" Mason advanced on the younger pirate, drawing his sword in the process.

"You heard me," said Oliver, boldly. "Shut. Ye. Hole."

"Pipsqueak!" shouted Mason. Oliver merely snorted and crossed his arms. He was nearly a head taller than Mason was. "I oughta slit ye from gut to gullet!" 

"Ah, ah, ah," said Oliver. "Remember the cap'n's orders." 

"Ah, fuck the cap'n's orders. To 'ell with the cap'n's orders!" Mason grumbled, putting his sword back into it's sheath. "To 'ell with the cap'n. To 'ell with the Jolly Roger. To 'ell with…" he mumbled to himself as he walked off ahead of Oliver.

Terrence Mason. Of all the people that Oliver had to get paired with for island duty, it _had _to be Mason, the pirate with the shortest temper. He was bitter about being stuck on the island. Of course, most if not all the pirates were, but he did not harbor any feelings. 

Oliver yawned. He was bored. He hated island duty. Simply _loathed _it. It was so…_boring_. Who wanted to search the island for Peter Pan's hideout? Who cared where Peter Pan's hideout was anyway? He would come to the ship to bother Hook soon enough. Why didn't the captain just wait for the stupid boy to come to him? 

A stupid boy. That's all he was. An arrogant, pigheaded, stupid—

There was a loud noise and Oliver looked up, seeing something come crashing through the trees. It seemed to hit almost every branch as it came down. He almost did not look up in time and surely he would have broken the fall of whatever had fallen through the clearing if he had not jumped back. He stood up after falling on his back, annoyed that the small twigs strewn about had scraped his hands but he soon forgot his annoyance when he saw what had fallen. 

It was a girl and she had acquired quite a few scrapings herself. Her face, as well as her bare arms, was scratched, leaving her with blood seeping from the scratches. But what was strange was not that she fell from the sky, but what she was wearing. 

"Mason!" Oliver loudly whispered. 

"…to 'ell with the croc. To 'ell with _you_—"

__

"Mason!" As he said this, he could hear the girl stirring awake. She groaned.

"What is it, boy?"

"Shh!" said Oliver loudly. "Come 'ere and see this!" 

Mason came. "Well looky 'ere! A bird, plucked right from the sky!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in amazement. 

Oliver rolled his eyes. Along with having a short temper, Mason could be stupid as well. "No, no, you idiot. It's not a bird, it's a girl." His eyes fell on her again as she began to murmur.

"What's she sayin'?" asked Mason. His voice had finally quieted down to a whisper. 

"Let's listen," replied Oliver. 

__

"Peter…Peter…" 

"Peter?" said Oliver, more to himself than to Mason.

__

"Peter…Tinkerbell…" 

Oliver's eyes blazed with anger. So. It was _Peter _she was rambling on about. Of course. It was _always _about Peter. Why did everyone care about him so much? He was a glory hog. He was a—

"Up girl, git up!" commanded Mason. He roughly hauled her up by her arm, getting a squeal from her. 

"What?" she said, quietly at first, shaking her head. "What are you doing? Who are you? Where's Peter?"

"Gently, Mason, gently!" instructed Oliver while the girl tried desperately to yank her arm out of Mason's grip in vain. "She's only a girl, for Christ's sakes!" 

"Who the hell are you?" cried the girl. "Hey, I asked you a goddamned question!" She continued to try to get out of Mason's grip, occasionally trying to kick him. 

Oliver smiled in amusement. This girl had a mouth on her. He could say that he thought it rather funny. "Let's take her to the ship," suggested Oliver. "I'm sure the cap'n would love to meet her, especially since she seems to know a thing or two about Peter Pan." 

"Wait a minute," said the girl, remaining still for a moment. "Peter Pan?" She gave a nervous laugh. "I don't know who you're talking about." 

Seeing the fear in her eyes almost made Oliver feel sorry for the girl. Almost. 

"Let's go, Mason." 

Mason nodded, easily throwing the girl over his left shoulder while she beat on his back with her balled fists. 

Thanks for reading…oh, and check out "Catalina" by Alison224. :) 

December 4, 2002

Copyright, theMuse


	6. Captured!

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Author's Note: Perhaps I should re-define a few things. Well, it's been brought to my attention that this story gives off the impression that it's based on the book. This person didn't exactly say that but they said enough. It's not based on the book. There we go. No more confusion. J Also, a comment has been made on how I've written that Ellie is spoiled and is used to getting her way and blah but she seems to "never get her way, and she seems to take it relatively easily" and "at this point in the story she's certainly not used to that." Well, I do remember mentioning that Ellie "displayed her haughty and rebellious nature." I also inferred that under certain circumstances, she wasn't aloud to act "haughty" or "rebellious" anymore. And, because of the way she treats Peter when she first meets him, it should be understood that she's not exactly a picnic. I really don't want to sound nasty, but all that I've said is how I've viewed it. I didn't think I needed to explain anything word for word to get my point across.

But, on a lighter note, I've been told that Ellie is **_not_**, I repeat **_not _**a Mary Sue and is likeable without having to be one. I'm glad. At least I've done something right. 

And with this, I leave you to enjoy the story.

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Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

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Chapter Six

* * *

"It's mine!"

"Mine!"

__

"Mine!"

"Stop it!" commanded Inks. He tore the doll from the two little girls' grasps and watched as one little girl's bottom lip began to quiver. "Look, Badge," he said to the younger girl, "if you're going to cry, then you won't have it." He looked at the other girl to show that his words applied to her also. 

"She started it," mumbled the older girl.

"Oh, come on, Dodge. Do you _really _want to be playing with dolls anyways? I mean, there are much better things to do." 

"Like what?" Her big green eyes watched him doubtfully while a pout played on her lips. 

"Like…like helping Ta-Ta with her sewing." 

Dodge's eyes lit up. "Yeah!" she ran off in search of the older girl. 

Inks wanted to smile. He knew that would get her. He gave Ta-Ta a silent apology, knowing that Dodge would most likely be a bother to her. Kneeling in front of the younger girl, he said, "Here you go, Badge," and handed her the doll. Its button eye was hanging merely by a few strings and some of the stuffing could be seen, but she hugged it nonetheless. 

"Thanks, Inks," she said, kissing him on the cheek and scurrying off. He rubbed his cheek with his palm and looked at it, smiling. Then, pocketing the kiss, he sighed inwardly and was thankful that the problem was solved. 

It seemed like these little spats between the younger Lost Children only occurred when Peter left him in charge. He remembered when Peter had first brought the doll back from the Other World, saying that he had stolen it, and of course, it had been fought over. But the Children were good for Peter. It was not until he was gone that they began to act up. They loved Peter. 

Oh, of course they liked Inks just fine, but there was something about the way they felt about Peter…Inks couldn't put his finger on it. He couldn't really characterize his exact feelings for Peter himself. But if he thought this way, then surely he was not the only one who did.

Perhaps he was. Inks was one of the oldest of the Lost Children; he was Peter's "right hand man." They had a long history together and he was not exactly sure how long he had know Peter for, for Neverland made it easy to forget. Of course, there were bits and pieces along the way that he did remember, but not the entire puzzle. 

He could not even exactly remember how he had gotten his name; Inky, or Inks as everyone called him, was named by Tinkerbell—or was it Peter himself? He could not remember. But, the most logical thing that he could come up with was that when he had been found, there had been ink nearby. Otherwise, where else would a name such as "Inky" come from? 

Then, there was that familiar feeling. The feeling that he felt whenever Peter was about to come home. Oh, he had learned to name this feeling because of the countless times that Peter had left him in charge when he wanted to be alone for a few days or went on his adventures around the island and such. 

There it was, the jangling of bells—Tinkerbell. Over time, he had learned to understand Tinkerbell, as did the rest of the Lost Children. Now, she sounded excite. Almost…ecstatic. Yes, she definitely did sound ecstatic; he could tell just by her sound. Had he really been on the island long enough to be able to do that?

Opening the small door that led to the underground vertically, she flew down, saying in a singsong voice, "Peter wants you above ground," before going her own separate way. 

He looked after her, curious as to what she was happy about, and then shrugged. Inks then climbed up the rope ladder and stuck his head above ground, looking around for Peter. He saw him a little ways a way, pacing, and then climbed out of the hole. 

"Peter?" said Inks when he reached him. He looked down at the younger looking boy. It was true; Peter did indeed look younger than he and was even a bit shorter than him. 

"Inky," he started. Inks's brow creased. Peter never called him Inky—only when he was upset, or in a hurry, or something of the sort. "Inky," he repeated. "Listen. I don't have much time. We don't have much time. You know why I went to the Other World—"

"No," Inks interrupted. "You never told me."

"Oh. Right…well, there is—was—is this girl, Ellie Rose. I was bringing her back with me to Neverland but…you must have seen how excited Tinkerbell was, right? Well…" he trailed off, placing his chin between his index finger and thumb. 

Inks waited a moment, because he could see that Peter was thinking, before saying, "Well…"

"I've lost her."

Ellie was terrified. She was hungry, cold, and terrified. She looked around, hearing something. It sounded like a squeak. There it was! A mouse. She despised mice and let out a scream, flattening herself against the wall. 

"'Ey! Girl, shut it!" shouted the man outside her cell. 

She watched it crawl back into the crack that it had come from. Ellie chuckled to herself a bit. She was such a baby. She sunk down until she was sitting with her knees to her chest and felt hay underneath her.

Her cell was covered with hay. There was no light except through the bars on the wooden door's small square window. Her cell. What a strange phrase. She never would have thought that any of this would happen to her. Not in her wildest dreams. 

Everything was just fine. Or so she thought. Why hadn't she just taken Peter's hand? There had been a fierce wind just as they had arrived to Neverland and he instructed her to take his hand. But of course, stubborn Ellie thought that she could handle herself. 

It turned out that she couldn't. She did remember loosing sight of Peter but she could not quite remember what happened after that, only waking up in the woods. The Forest of Fog. That's where the boy had told her they were when she asked—demanded—to know. What an odd name for a forest. Well, the entire situation was odd. 

The boy, along with an older man who had picked her up and would not set her down, had turned out to be pirates. Just her luck. Yes, this mouse-infested place was _much _better than living with her aunt. She rolled her eyes.

But that was the reason she was scared, not the reason that she was terrified. She had not met Hook yet and that was what she was terrified of. Ellie remembered him from the dream that she had. That's all she wanted from him: a memory. She did not want to meet him in person. 

She coughed slightly. Her cold was coming back. She had been periodically coughing ever since she had gotten onto the ship. It was awful. 

And where the hell was Peter? Wasn't it about time for him to come and save her? He had saved Wendy plenty of times. She was sure that she had read that somewhere. So wasn't it her turn to be saved?

The wooden door opened and in entered one of her kidnappers. It was the younger one. 

He looked at her, amused. "Why do you look so afraid?"

Ellie just glared at him. 

"Do you have a name, little one?"

"Little one?" Ellie repeated, annoyed. 

"Well, mine is Oliver." 

"Does it look like I care?"

"I never asked if you did. But, I'm the nicest there is. Once you get out there—"

"I'm not scared of anyone," said Ellie, standing up to face him. She almost backed down once she realized the drastic height difference. She saw Oliver smirk and gritted her teeth. It seemed that every time she answered him, he would smirk. She hated it. 

He was handsome; she would give him that. He had hair the color of coals and bright blue eyes. In fact, they were staring at her right now with such forcefulness, that she almost backed down again.

Oliver looked down at the girl. She was scared; he could see it in her eyes. She was brave too, for she had not given into his gaze that he had used on others. 

"I'm getting out of here."

Oliver said, "Oh, really now? And going where?"

Ellie almost did not say what she wanted to say; he had made her feel rather foolish. "Peter Pan is coming to save me," she said quietly. 

The boy gave a small laugh. She did not sound so sure. "And when he does, I'll make sure to tell him that you said that right before he dies." 

Ellie shuddered as he said those last words. She saw the hatred in his far away look. 

After a moment of silence, he spoke. "Well, thank you, little girl, for making me laugh." 

"I'm _not _a little girl," said Ellie, angry. When she saw Oliver smirk again, it took all her willpower to keep from elbowing him in the gut. 

Wait. She did want to get out of here, didn't she? And the door was open…Before Oliver knew what happened, he was hunched over, clutching his stomach. Ellie gave his bottom a smart kick. "And I'm _not _a little girl!" she proclaimed before running out the door. She did not bother to remember how to get on deck; she just ran.

"'Ey, git back 'ere!" Ellie heard from behind her. Damn. She had forgotten that there was a pirate near her cell. Luckily, he was on the heavy side and could not catch up to her.

Looking from side to side, Ellie only saw other cell doors. Finally, she saw a set of stairs ahead that led to the main deck. Quickly, she ran up the wooden steps, only stumbling once. Her luck ran out when she reached the main deck. 

She blindly ran on deck. At first, she went unnoticed but after a few moments, she attracted attention. 

"Ain't that the girl the that Mason and the boy brought back from island duty?" Ellie heard while she was thinking of what to do. Everyone turned to look. 

"Yeah, that's 'er."

"What's she doin' up 'ere?"

The pirates began to close in on her. Oh shit, thought Ellie as she turned around, nervously eyeing her predators. 

"That's right, boys. Grab'r."

Ellie turned to look at where the voice had come from. It was Oliver; she had not even noticed him come on deck. But, what was that? Why did he sound different now? When he had been speaking to her, he had spoken with a polished British accent, but now—

"Take'r below," commanded Oliver. 

"Why not 'ave a lit'l fun wit'r first?" suggested a grinning pirate with a yellow smile. He began to unbuckle his belt. Ellie backed away, disgusted. 

Oliver's eyes flashed with angry. He walked across the deck, boots sounding noisily with each step, and did not stop until he was in front of Ellie. Then, he drew his pistol and shot the grinning pirate between the eyes. 

Ellie's eyes widened as she peered from around Oliver. 

"Throw 'im in the water," he growled silently. 

"'Ey, boy, that's not for you to deci—"

The sound of Oliver shooting his pistol into the air cut off the speaking pirate. He watched silently as a few men began to pick up the body and throw him overboard, not bothering with the blood. 

Oliver felt no remorse. How dare he suggest such a thing to do to a lady? "Are you alright?" he asked Ellie so that only she could hear, turning around and placing his hands on her shoulders.

She only nodded. It was the only thing she could think of doing. She was afraid to move and was still in shock from what she had just seen. How could be so swift to kill like that? With such ease? 

"Good," murmured Oliver. "Take'r below," he called to the other men. All eyes were on him as he marched off. 

The jingle jangle of little bells seemed to fill the air but appeared to be heard only by Ellie. Or perhaps only she noticed it because she was praying for her rescuer to come. Well, it was close enough to whom she was praying for and it would have to do.

It was Tinkerbell.

"Tinkerbell!" called Ellie, waving her hands. The fairy flew closer and closer. Oliver must have also heard her approaching, for he was by Ellie's side in an instant, sword drawn. 

"Go ahead and try it, pixie devil!" he challenged, feeling the angry rush through his veins. Peter Pan's fairy would not take this girl. _Especially _not Peter Pan's fairy. Of course, if it were any other fairy, he would not be so quick to anger. 

"Tinkerbell!" Ellie pleaded. She felt arms encircling her and did not even look to see whom it was. She was determined to be rescued. "Help me, Tinkerbell!" she called, reaching towards the sky. It was as if she reached high enough, she would instantly slip out of her capturer's arms and fly away. 

But then the unthinkable happened. Tinkerbell circled around the ship and flew away. Just like that. And Ellie was not sure, but she thought that she could see a smile on the fairy's face.

Isn't Tinkerbell evil? Oh and please have a look at my stories, The Clandestine Book of Eye (Harry Potter) and Tonight, Tonight: A Vampyre Story (an original). It'd be much appreciated. Also, Catalina by Alison224. Thanks.

December 11, 2002

Copyright, theMuse


	7. Rescued

****

Author's Note: Hey…I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know I enjoyed writing it.

__

Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

* * *

__

Chapter Seven

* * *

Tinkerbell was confused. She glowered at her mirror in her apartment, head in her hands. Giving herself one last glance, she looked away in disgust and began to pace. 

Peter Pan did the same outside her apartment. Inks looked on anxiously, sitting on Peter's hammock. Finally, he said, "Stop, stop, Peter. You're making me nervous."

Peter did not cease. Peter did not hear. His brow was knitted deep in thought. 

Peter's apprehensive nature was not helping Tinnkerbell's guilt-stricken mood. Yes, that's right. She felt guilty. Peter had sent her to look for Ellie and she had—but he had never said that she had to tell him where the girl was. And he had never said that she had to bring the girl back either. So she hadn't.

When she had seen Ellie on the ship, her first instinct was to rescue her because it was what Peter would have done. But why should she? She did not like this girl and the girl did not like her. Why should she risk being captured and placed in a jar for this girl? 

Tinkerbell smiled to herself. She knew that was absurd; no pirate would catch her. _Could _catch. Hook had once, but that was just pure luck. It would never happen again. Just like how she wished that Peter bringing a girl to Never Neverland with the intentions of something other than making her a Lost Girl would never happen again. But it had. 

And now, he was sad, worrying himself into a frenzy, and worst of all, feeling guilty. That was silly, for it was not his fault. It was hers. Not directly, but she had a chance to save Ellie, and she had ignored it. Tinkerbell had thought that that was what she wanted, joy in every inch of air that she flew when she circled the ship, but it was not. If it meant that Peter was sad, then it was not. 

So, she prepared herself to confess to Peter what she had done. 

"I don't know what to do, Inky," said Peter. He had finally stopped pacing. "She just would not take my hand and then…"

"It isn't your fault," Inks tried to comfort. "We…we can search for her again," he suggested. 

"Peter," Tinkerbell silently called from her open apartment door.

"Tinkerbell said that she has already searched the entire island," said Peter. 

"Peter," the fairy tried again.

"What I'm worried about is this: if we didn't find her, who did?" He frowned at the thought. 

Inks could not think of what to say. This was difficult for him. He had not even met this girl. 

"Peter!" 

Startled, the two boys turned to look at Tinkerbell.

Timidly, she said, "I know where she is." She bit her lip as if to brace herself for the anger that was about to be unleashed onto her. 

But it didn't come. Not right away, at least. "What?" said Peter. "You what?" His voice was not filled with anger, but disbelief. 

"Y-yes," she stuttered. "I know where she is."

Seeing that Peter was at a loss for words, Inks said, "Well, where is she then?"

Tinkerbell hung her head. "The pirates have her."

__

"What?" came Peter's unbelieving voice again. 

"I-I saw her on the p-pirates' ship," said the fairy uneasily. 

"And you didn't help her?" 

No answer. 

Peter just shook his head. He knew that Tinkerbell could be jealous at times, but he did not think the extent of her jealousy stretched so far that she would leave her to…to…he didn't want to think the thought, but he did. 

Ellie could be dead. 

"Inky, get some of the Children. Bring them here. No girls," said Peter, trying to suppress the rising anger. 

As Inks went off to do what Peter requested, a small voice arose. "Peter—"

"No, Tinkerbell," interrupted Peter, putting his hand up. He would not look at her. 

"But—"

"No." 

Bottom lip trembling, Tinkerbell flew out of the room as quickly as she could. She would not cry, no matter how terrible she felt. 

Meanwhile, Inks came back with a few Lost Boys. They stood waiting for Peter to talk. His back was to them; he was thinking of what to do. 

"What's this about?" whispered one of the boys to Inks.

"Quiet, Arthur," he whispered back. 

Peter turned around to survey the boys. He already knew who had spoken. Arthur. He would come in handy if an extravagant plan needed to be carried out. Arthur was extremely intelligent and rather curious. Although he was the smallest out of the boys before him, he would be very helpful. 

Then there was Nix. He too stood out from the boys; his hair was a fiery red color, like the phoenix, and his eyes were bright blue. Quite crafty in his nature, he could pull pranks like no other. 

The rest of the boys blended in on sight. Each of them had their own little talents, but out of the bunch, Arthur and Nix were the most outstanding. 

"Listen," started Peter. "We're raiding the pirate ship." He received a few grins. "No. Not that kind of raid."

Suddenly, a girl burst into the room. After the boys turned to see who it was, some shook their heads while others rolled their eyes. 

It was Clear. 

"What are you doing here, Clear?" asked Inks. "I already told you. No girls."

"I'm not here for _you_, I'm here for Peter," she answered back, sharply. 

Inks cringed. This would be tough.

"Look, Clear," started Peter. He approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes. "I know you want to come, but this is dangerous. We're raiding the pirate ship."

He saw her eyes flash with anger. Peter knew now that he had mentioned the pirates, she would want to come even more. A pirate had killed her twin brother. Ever since then, she had hated them. Despised them. 

"And?" Clear asked smartly. She crossed her arms across her chest. 

"Don't argue, Clear," said an irritated Inks. It was his turn to cross his arms across his chest. She was so stubborn; it bothered him. 

She glared at Inks. "Shut _up_, Inks. I didn't ask you!" 

"Hey, look at me," said Peter. Clear looked at him. "Listen to me. I really don't have time for this. It's not the kind of raid you're thinking of. We're going to save someone." 

"Who?"

"None of your business," replied Inks for Peter. 

Before she could say anything, Peter went on to say, "You'll see when we get back. Now, excuse us." All eyes were on her, waiting for her to leave. She looked around and then made a sound of disgust, making sure to bump Inks as she passed by him. Peter shook his head. "Now, boys. I was bringing someone back from the Other World but now, the pirates have her."

"Let's go!" cried one of the boys as he took his small blade from its hilt. Bit. Always eager to fight. 

Peter almost smiled at Bit's enthusiasm. But there would not be a fight, he hoped. It would be a quick retrieval. "First of all, I'm bringing you boys to back me up. I'm going in alone. On my whistle," he demonstrated, "you come onto the ship. Got it?"

They nodded.

"Dust, boys?" he asked. He started to retrieve his pouch of fairy dust.

"No, not at the moment," came Inks's answer. One by one, they began to rise into the air to demonstrate.

"Good. We wait till nightfall." 

__

~later~

Peter had decided to wait until past nightfall. It was a better idea. There were virtually no pirates out. Most of them were in Bucaneer Banor celebrating for no reason and the ones still on the main deck were busy singing their drunken songs. They would not be a problem.

Just as he had ordered, the boys were floating on the seaside of the ship. He had told them that he and Ellie would meet them there. Once he had seen that the main deck was clear, besides a few drunken pirates, he thought that his task was going to be relatively easy. The one thing that he dreaded was seeing Oliver. There was not a single fiber in his body that would not be angry if he saw him. Pushing Oliver out of his mind, he emerged from the seaside of the ship and landed lightly on the deck. 

Stepping carefully, he praised himself for being so smart as to come at night when he did not have to worry about anything. As of now, he walked carefully, just in case. Finding the familiar stairwell down to the lower deck, he descended it slowly, hand on the hilt of his sword. 

I forgot how many cells there are down here, Peter thought to himself. He would just have to look through each of their small, barred windows. Cautiously, of course. And he did so. It was not until he could hear snoring ahead and see a sleeping pirate that he drew a sigh of relief. That had to be Ellie's cell. Why else would there be a guard outside of it?

Quietly, he tiptoed to the door. Trying to open it, he swore to himself when he found that it was locked. A key. Peter looked around in search of one. Perhaps there would be one on the pirate's belt. There was. Carefully, his shaky hands unhooked it from his belt loop and he held his breath at the same time. 

Finally, Peter could open the door. It was even darker inside than in the hallway, but that was to be expected. From what he could see, there was no sign of Ellie. But, he did hear what sounded like coughing coming from the darkness.

"Peter?" he heard a mouse of a voice call from the other side of the room. 

"Ellie Rose? Where are you?" 

Without hesitation, she came out of the darkness, arms wrapped around herself. Ellie thought that she would never be so happy to see him. She wanted to hug him out of thanks for saving her, but decided against it, for it would be too awkward. "What the hell—" she began to cough, "took you so long?" 

"Shh," Peter silenced. "We're not safe yet." He took her hand and peered out the door. Seeing that the pirate just outside the door was still fast asleep, he tugged Ellie with one hand while the other rested on the hilt of his sword and they made their way down the corridor. 

Ellie looked at their interlocked hands in wonder. How could he do that? How could he just ignore her ungrateful attitude? How could he just pretend that she had not let go of his hand? It was her own fault that she had gotten into this mess. Peter did not seem to see that though. Ellie squeezed his hand, truly grateful. 

They reached the top of the stairwell that connected the main deck to the lower deck. The sounds of drunken pirates no longer filled the air. Peter scanned their surroundings, keeping his ears open just in case. 

Where are we going, Ellie wondered. "Peter—"

"Quiet," Peter harshly commanded. His grip on her hand tightened. He was not sure if he heard correctly, but it sounded like—

"Peter—"

"Ellie Rose, be quiet."

Ellie did not say another word. What was going on? Why was he so apprehensive?

"Someone," she heard him mumble, "is following us."

"What? How do you know? I don't hear anything."

"We've got to go, Ellie Rose. Here," he said, unlatching the pouch from his belt. It was filled with fairy dust. Normally, he did not bother with it, but he did not have Tinkerbell for assistance. "Do you remember what to do?"

"It hasn't been that long since—"

"Good." He did not hesitate in sprinkling the loose fairy dust over her. Then, he inserted two fingers between his lips, producing a high-pitched whistle. Moments later, Ellie saw a band of boys fly from the seaside of the ship. "Lost Boys," said Peter. "Take Ellie Rose home." 

"But Peter, what about you?" asked Ellie. 

"Don't worry about me," he replied. He gripped the hilt of his sword. "Just go. Do as they say and don't stray." Peter watched as his boys took Ellie to their home. Then, he walked to the middle of his ship, the grip on his sword hilt tightening. 

He decided that he would have a little fun before he left. He could still hear someone behind him; the creaking plank boards gave them away. 

Peter walked a bit. Maybe he would go and find Hook. It had been a while since he had last seen the captain. The man needed a little excitement every once in a while. It was healthy for him. 

Hearing footsteps closer behind him, he turned and unleashed his sword, using it to shield his face from an oncoming blow. Peter only smiled, trying to disguise his disgust at what he saw. "It _had_ to be you." 

"Yes, it is me," replied Oliver. He applied pressure onto the sword, but seeing that this did not faze Peter, he moved his sword in order to produce another blow. Peter blocked this one also. "Your dear old friend."

"Oh," said Peter, blocking another blow. "Well, hello. It has been a while."

"I rather liked it that way," Oliver answered nastily. 

The boy smiled. "I know something else you will like." He backed up and lunged with his sword. He and Oliver began to fight. 

"And what would that be?" Oliver would never admit it, but the boy was good. No bother. He was not winded. Yet.

"I've rescued her." 

"You _what_?" The anger was rising in Oliver's veins and he showed it by attacking Peter more viciously. It was not _fair_. Tomorrow, he had planned on presenting the girl to the captain. He would have been so proud that Oliver had found something that could possibly lure Peter to the ship. Why did Peter have to spoil his plans? 

"That's right, Oliver. She's at the hideout right now," he said cockily.

"You bring her back, boy!"

Peter rose into the air. "Come now! You act as if you weren't a boy yourself at one time. And, I would suggest you come and get her yourself, but you don't know the way to the hideout anymore. Isn't it a shame that you turned traitor?" And with that, he flew away into the night sky, leaving Oliver seething in anger.

Hmm, I wonder what Peter means by Oliver "turning traitor?" That's something for you to store in your memory bank.

December 22, 2002

Copyright, theMuse


	8. Inclinations

****

Author's Notes: This chapter reveals a little more about Peter's past (and Oliver's too). I hope you can pick up on that while reading it.

__

Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams

* * * 

__

Chapter Eight

* * * 

Peter was quite happy with himself. He had succeeded in rescuing Ellie _and_ angering Oliver both with one stone. When he got back to the hideout, he thanked the boys for helping him and then asked where Ellie was.

"She's waiting for you in your room," answered Inks.

Indeed she was. When he walked into his room, he found her curiously fingering one of the many contraptions on his shelf. "Hello, Ellie Rose."

She turned to him, startled. "Hello, Peter."

Peter smiled. "Yes, yes. Go ahead and thank me." 

"Well, I was _going_ to until—"

"That's okay," he interrupted, waving his hand into the air. He flopped onto his bed, arms behind his head. Then, he closed his eyes. "You don't have to thank me. I already know how thankful you are." 

Ellie shook her head. He was so full of himself. "I really don't understand it."

"Understand what?" asked Peter, cracking one eye open. 

Instead of answer, Ellie coughed, bringing a hand to her mouth. When she pulled it away, she was horrified at what she saw. 

It was blood. 

Peter saw the horrified look on her face. "What's wrong?" he inquired, beginning to get up. 

"N-nothing," she answered hastily. She did not want him to know. "I just need…to wash my hands, that's all." 

"Why didn't you say so? Come on." He guided her outside to a small pond. "Here you go."

"Thanks," said Ellie. What about soap, she wanted to ask. But, she did not. Instead, she knelt down and rinsed her hand off in the pond. Gross, she thought. When she was finished, she wiped her hand off on her pant leg. 

Following Peter back inside, Ellie watched as she saw boys and girls, some little, some older, doing various things. Some were playing games and some were doing other things. 

"This is incredible," she muttered to herself. As they entered Peter's room, she asked, "How is this possible?" 

"What?" Peter sat on the edge of his bed and began to polish his sword. 

"This? All of this? All these children…everything?" 

"Oh. Well," he thought a moment, "I had never really thought about it. I suppose I could ask Tinkerbell." He walked to her apartment and lightly tapped on the door. "Tink," he called gently. And then, he remembered. She had left earlier. Shrugging his shoulders, he stepped away from her apartment. He did not care much, for he was still a bit angry with her. 

"Well?" prompted Ellie. 

"She's not there."

"Oh. Peter, I have something to tell you!" She recalled what had happened on the ship previously that day. Tinkerbell had left her to the pirates. "Do you know what she did? She—"

"Yes, I already know," said Peter, obviously irritated by the thought. "And I am sorry about that. I had no idea she would do such a thing."

"It's alright. I guess. I'm here now, aren't I? But, don't you find it a bit strange that you don't know why any of _this_ is here?"

"I-we built it ourselves."

Ellie's eyes widened. "Really? All these tunnels? That's amazing." 

"Why is it so amazing?"

"Well, I just never imagined…" 

Peter looked away. "I never imagined it either," he said softly. "We've been here a long time."

"How long?"

"I don't know." 

"That's strange." She went to stand beside him. "I mean, I know how long I've been in every place I've ever lived." 

He looked at her. "But, it's different for you. I…I don't even know how old I am." Ellie could see the sadness in his eyes. 

"You look around my age to me," she said. Perhaps that would bring him some comfort. 

Peter only chuckled a bit. He remembered a time long ago when someone had assumed his age. "Do I?" 

Ellie nodded. "But…one would think that you would look like a little boy." 

"Did the book tell you that?" asked Peter, a slight smile on his face. "Come sit by me," he requested. Ellie followed him and they sat on the bed together. "There was a time when I did look like a young boy. But that was before I…" 

It was strange how Peter's manner would change. One minute he would act like a child, carrying a haughty air about him. The next minute, he would shoulder the sadness of an old man. Ellie had a feeling that there was much he was not telling her. 

"Before what?" prompted Ellie.

"Things were so different for me," he went on to say, ignoring her question. "But it is difficult to remember everything. Neverland makes you forget."

She nodded. "Another time," Ellie said. She put her hand over his and he looked at her. Giving her a slight half smile, he enclosed her hand with his. 

__

~later~

Peter could not sleep. From his hammock, he looked at the sleeping girl in his bed and sighed. He was content. Even though he had not slept much, he was content. 

He was glad that Ellie was here. She made him feel warm and it was something that he was grateful for. But, he was worried. The reason that he had barely slept that night was because Ellie's coughing had kept him up. And, he was almost positive that he had seen blood being washed off of Ellie's hand into the pond. He had seen enough bloodshed in his life to know. But being the stubborn girl that she was, she had lied, saying that nothing was wrong. 

Although the thought of Ellie coughing up blood was alarming, he pushed the thought out of his head. Peter, instead, thought of all the things that he would show her the following day. She would love Neverland. He would make sure of that. 

Tinkerbell sat on a tree branch, knees touching her chest. Dawn's twilight surrounded her. Her face was adorned with dried tear tracks. She had done something she thought not possible for her to do. 

She had hurt Peter.

Her wonderful Peter. Her boy. Her love. Ever since he was a baby…she shook the thought out of her head. Tinkerbell did not like to think about when Peter was a baby. It brought back memories of what had come close to doing. All those years ago…

She perked her head up, alert. She heard voices. Tinkerbell looked around and finally figured out the direction in which they were coming from. Then, she waited, watching to see who the voices belonged to. 

"Here, Cap'n," she heard a voice say. It was a pirate that Tinkerbell did not know, along with Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Oliver. They stopped just below her tree and she repositioned herself so that she would not be seen in case any of them decided to look up. "Right here."

The captain looked to Oliver, who was silent. "Is Mason correct, lad?" 

He nodded. "Yes, Cap'n. She fell through the clearing around here."

Hook stroked his chin, thinking. Then, he asked, "Why was she not brought to my attention sooner?" 

"Well, Cap'n," started Oliver carefully. "I was hopin' to git as much information from 'er as possible first."

"Yes…" he replied thoughtfully. "Smee, you and Mason stay here. Oliver, come, lad. Let's take a little walk." 

Tinkerbell followed the captain and Oliver undetected. She hid in another tree when they stopped, close enough to hear everything that they were saying clearly. 

"Oliver, I want you to tell me exactly what happened again. From the beginning."

"Mason and I were on island duty and we were walkin' about. All of a sudden, 'ere comes this girl, 'urtlin' at me from the sky. Well, Cap'n, I jumped back as so's not to git hit. Then, I called me partner, Mason, to come take a look at the girl we found. Then—"

"Oh stop it, stop it, boy," interrupted Hook in a disgusted tone. "It makes me sick to hear you talk like that to me. _Me_, boy, not one of those scowry, no good, codfish that you call your shipmates. You're better than that. You know that. You are at my level." He tipped his head back in a dignified manner to emphasize his point. "You only started talking like that because you wanted to fit in."

Oliver dropped his head. It was true. Everything that the captain had spoken of was true. "Yes, Cap'n. I know, Cap'n." 

The captain placed his hook under Oliver's chin and raised his head up. "Now," he went on. "I have something very important to discuss with you regarding Pan." 

Peter? Tinkerbell listened more closely at the mention of his name. 

"Yes, Cap'n, what is it?"

"I have been offered something of extreme value to me." The captain walked around a bit, hand and hook clasped behind his back. Oliver waited for him to finish. He turned back to Oliver. "Wouldn't you like to leave the Neverland? Forever?" 

Leave the Neverland? Forever? Oliver could not even conceive that thought. Neverland was his home. 

"If I deliver Pan, then we will be able to leave Neverland!" said Hook, excitement in his voice. 

"Excuse me, sir, but deliver Pan to whom?"

Hook looked at him, his eyes flashing with something unidentifiable. "I cannot tell you that yet, boy. The time will come. But I do hope you now understand why the girl you found was important." 

Oliver nodded. He understood perfectly. 

By now, Tinkerbell had figured out that they were talking about Ellie, which sent mixed feelings through her. But, she thought it necessary to go and tell Peter what she had heard. Perhaps it would make up for what she did. So off she flew. 

"Cap'n? I do not mean to sound rude but why are you telling me all this? Why not someone else? Why not Smee?"

The captain smiled. "I was hoping that you would ask me that question." He clapped a hand onto Oliver's shoulder. They were almost the same height so Hook had no problem staring him in the eye. "It's because I trust you, boy. Other than Smee, you are the only person I can trust. And one would think that it would be quite the opposite considering the circumstances in which you joined us." 

The way the captain said those last words sent a chill through Oliver. It was as if he was warning him against betrayal. 

"I want you to do something for me, Oliver."

"Anything, Cap'n."

"I want you to kidnap the red-skin princess." 

Oliver did not think this was a good idea. The captain had executed this plan many times before and it always ended in the same way: Peter saved her. But, he nodded nonetheless.

"_And_ her sister," continued the captain. "If that does not go accordingly to plan, I will be forced to do something a little more drastic. But I do think it will go our way, for this time we will be a little more _harsh_ with the princesses." He smiled, evilly. "Peter always was smitten with her. And I do remember a time when you were quite fond of the Princes Water Lily." As he said these words, he watched for Oliver's reaction.

Oliver's heart wrenched for a moment. There was a time, a long time ago, when he had longed for the Princess Water Lily—

"Come now, Oliver," said Hook, bringing Oliver back from his thoughts. "We have much to do."

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the next chapter.

December 28, 2002

Copyright, theMuse


	9. Talk Of War

**Author's Note: Thank you to all that reviewed my last chapter (Caitlin, LeopardDance, and ElfPilot). It's much, much, _much appreciated. _**

**To ElfPilot: Your idea about Oliver…I'd have to say, not quite. Good guess though. And this is dedicated to you, one of my few reviews. My motivation…*gets teary eyed*…okay, I'm done.**

**To Josephine Sawyer: I truly do miss your reviews. **

Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams__

_* * *_

Chapter Nine__

_* * *_

Ellie's eyes opened to look upon Peter Pan's smiling face. She groaned and rolled over in his bed. It was early; she could feel it. And his face was not the most appealing thing at that time. 

"Wake up, Ellie Rose!" called Peter. 

Instead of doing as he requested, Ellie put the pillow over her head. 

Peter, smiling to himself wilily, stood at the foot of the bed and wrenched the blanket off. His smile grew even wider when he heard the girl in his bed squeal in displeasure.  

"Jerk," she croaked. "Go away. I'm sleeping." 

"Oh, come on," said Peter. He began to jump on the bed. "How could you possibly handle sleep on a beautiful day like today?" 

Ellie sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her hair was a halo about her head, causing Peter to chuckle silently to himself. "That's it," he encouraged, roughly rubbing her already messed up hair. 

"Get off!" commanded Ellie, swatting his hands away. 

Peter jumped one last time and flipped off the bed, landing in mid-air. He looked down at Ellie, whose eyes were still half closed. "Come on, Ellie Rose. We have so much to do today." 

"I need a cappuccino," she mumbled to herself.

Scratching his head, Peter asked, "A what?" 

"Cappa…oh never mind. I'm up, I'm up." Slowly, she rolled out of bed, landing on the hard floor. Groaning, she hid her head in the crook of her arm and remained on there on the floor. Ellie hated mornings. 

Peter landed beside her and shook his head. He could not believe how much she fought waking up. "Ellie Rose, come on. Get up." 

She sighed. Peter was relentless. "Fine," she mumbled. Ellie stood and dusted herself off. Oh no. A thought just came passed through her mind. How was she going to shower? 

Seeing the look on her face, the boy asked, "What is the matter?" 

"I need a shower." 

"Shower?"

Oh God. He didn't know what a shower was? That was a bad sign. A terrible sign. Ellie tried something else. "You know, a bath." 

"Oh. Come this way." 

Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. Yes—she would be clean. 

Peter guided her through the tunnels until they reached a poorly crafted door. He knocked and waited. 

"Come in!"

"Girls," started Peter as he walked through the doorway. They looked up. A few greeted him. "This is Ellie Rose." 

Ellie gave a slight wave and then thought, What was that? That was…corny. 

"She needs new clothes, a bath, and give her something to eat too." Peter looked to her. "Come find me when you're done. I'll be in my room." He said it so that only she could hear and left. 

Ellie looked after him, feeling helpless and self-conscious, and then looked back at the girls. All of them gave her warm smiles. All, except for one. The girl grimaced at her, her arms across her chest. 

"Hello," said the closest girl. She looked to be about twelve years old and when she stood, she was taller than Ellie. But, what Ellie admired the most about her was her dark skin color. It reminded her of her mother. "I'm Ta-Ta." She put her sewing on the bed that she had been sitting on and extended her hand for Ellie to shake. 

Surprised at her hospitality, Ellie was hesitant on shaking her hand. But, she did nonetheless. 

"Sky," said another, approaching her. It took a moment for Ellie to realize that that was her name. And she could see why too. Her eyes shared the same beautiful blue color that the sky had. Sky was fairly tall too compared to her, about Peter's height. When she had walked towards Ellie to introduce herself, her brown curls bounced about her head, giving her a cheery manner about her. 

"Hello," replied Ellie, quietly. 

"So you're the new girl, huh." This came from a girl across the room who had scowled at Ellie when she had entered. Ellie looked to see that she had been the one frowning at her when she had entered. She had an icy air to her; blonde hair, blue eyes, and extremely pale skin. Even though she was tremendously pale, she was beautiful. 

She stepped off the bed and approached Ellie with a menacing look upon her face. "I've heard about you. We all have. What's so great about you? Why would Peter risk his life to save you?" 

"Oh, stop it, Spirit," said another voice. Ellie had not noticed the girl who had spoken until now. She had been watching the scene unfold from her bed in the corner. She too rose from her bed and moved towards the girls near the room's doorway. "Why don't you go bully someone else?"

Ellie surveyed this girl. She had black hair that stretched down to mid back and reasonably tan skin. She had a severe look about her, but once one saw past that, one could almost say that she was pretty. 

Spirit looked at the girl. "Like you, I suppose?" The girl just rolled her eyes. "Why don't you mind your own business, Clear?" Spirit went on to say. "Stop trying to be a hero. And you." She turned back to Ellie. "You didn't answer my question. Why would he risk his life to save you?" She dug two fingers into Ellie's chest, pushing her back. 

Ellie's face burned with annoyance. This girl had no right to push her or even touch her, for that matter. "Look, Capser," she said in a snobbish tone. "I'm sure that you were expecting me to burst into tears." Ellie was surprised that she had not; Spirit was just as tall as Sky was and that was nearly a head taller than she was. "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's just not going to happen. Oh, and maybe you should try going outside a bit more. It might help that little pale problem of yours." 

Ta-Ta gasped and Sky clamped a hand over her mouth, while Clear just smirked, raising one of her eyebrows. Spirit, on the other hand, was not amused. Her eyes flared, first in surprise, and then in anger. She stared at Ellie so hard, that Ellie thought she was trying to kill her with a look. Finally, she stormed out of the room. 

That's when Sky burst out laughing. She fell onto the floor, holding her middle. 

"I can't believe you!" exclaimed Ta-Ta. She kept looking from the door to Ellie and back again. "I would never have…you just did something…"

"And then when you called her pale," gasped Sky. She continued laughing. 

"Yes," said Ta-Ta. "She's very sensitive about that," she said, feeling sorry for Spirit. 

"Because she looks like a damn ghost," said Clear. "She deserved it. She shouldn't have bullied you," Clear said to Ellie. 

"It's alright." Ellie thought of her schoolmates. For that moment, she was glad that she had gone to school with such obnoxious people. Otherwise, she did not think that she would have been able to handle Spirit. 

"Now, let's get you washed up and then, some clothes," said Ta-Ta in a motherly tone. She took Ellie's hand and led her out of the room. Ellie thought she looked a little too excited.

Peter landed in the redskin village with Tinkerbell by his side. The redskins had been expecting him and they allowed him peaceful passage to the redskin chief's large teepee.

The redskin chief was a big man. He towered over Peter and created a very menacing atmosphere. His words matched his menacing air. "He has taken both my daughters," he said, pounding his fist into his palm. "He has violated me for the last time! It is war!" 

"Now, Chief Running Bear," started Peter. He had every intention in calming him down. "I will save your daughters. I've saved Tiger Lily many times, haven't I?"

Suddenly, Chief Running Bear grabbed Peter by his collar and pulled him up to eye level. Tinkerbell, who had been on Peter's shoulder, was now hovering beside him. If the chief showed any sign of hurting him, she would be ready to take his eye out. 

"You," growled the chief. His nostrils flared with anger and Peter could smell his sour breath. "This is because of you, is it not? It is always because of you, is it not? Why must Tiger Lily, and now Water Lily, always suffer because of you?"

"Y-yes," stuttered Peter. He was not usually afraid, but he was now. There was no escaping the chief's crushing fists of fury. "But I bring Tiger Lily back unharmed every time." 

"But it is because of you that the incident occurs. If we go to war, you will go to war with us." He set Peter down roughly. Tinkerbell took her place on his shoulder once again. "If you do not bring them back, you will be joining us in war." 

Peter nodded his understanding. Gaining his composure, he asked, "Did Hook, by any chance, mention where he was taking them?"

"Dead Man's Bluff. There are two that need saving this time. You will need help." The chief stepped out of the tent. Momentarily, he came back with a boy that was clearly older than Peter. He was tall and lean. Peter recognized him as Wild Horse. "Wild Horse will accompany you. Now, go." The chief escorted—or rather, pushed them out of his teepee. 

"Will you fly, Wild Horse?" offered Peter. He looked at Tinkerbell, signaling her to do her magic.

"No," he declined. "I would rather ride."

Suit yourself, thought Peter. As Wild Horse readied his horse, Tinkerbell said to Peter, "That will never work, Peter. He'll take forever." 

"You've read my mind, Tink. That's why I was going to ask you to go with him. Give him speed." Before Tinkerbell could object, Peter was off. 

"He what?" 

"Yes," said Inks. He sighed. Why did he have to be the one to tell Ellie that Peter was not there? Why couldn't Peter pick someone else? So what if he was Peter's right hand man?

Ellie, on the other hand, could not believe it. Peter had woken her up so early only to forget about her and save some princess? Couldn't he set his priorities straight? 

"Tinkerbell came and told him," Inks went on to say. 

So. It was Tinkerbell. She had decided to show up then. Of all the times to decide to come back. Elle looked up at the sky and sighed, taking in the warmth around her. It was a nice day, but that was the last thing on her mind. "So now what do we do?" she asked.

"We just…wait."

Wait? How could he expect her to wait? She had waited through the clothing fitting that Ta-Ta had given her (who always found something wrong and needed to sew up a hole here or there). She had waited through the disgusting bath that she took in the communal lagoon. Even now she shuddered at the thought. "I can't wait, Inks." Ellie began to walk away from him. When she saw that Inks was not following, she said, "Well, come on, then. We're going."

"Going? Where?"

"To where Peter is. The redskin village." She resumed walking

This was when Inks ran the few strides to catch up with her. "You can't do that. You don't even know the way! You can't do that, Ellie Rose."

Ellie sighed. "Are you always so about the rules? Come on, live a little. Now, which way is this village?" 

Inks grabbed her arm. "Ellie Rose, it doesn't work that way. We can't just go waltzing into the redskin village now that the princesses have been captured."

Ellie yanked her arm away. "Why not?" She crossed her arms across her chest and pouted unconsciously. 

Inks wanted to grin. Why, she was acting like one of the younger Children. He decided to note on this. 

"Oh, shut up," she told him after he'd spoken his mind. She saw him trying to hide a smile but ignored it. "But seriously, why can't we go?"

"Well," started Inks. "There are certain…rules." 

"Rules? What kind of rules?"

"Usually, nothing is ever serious between us and the redskins. We live in peace and play capturing games."

"I don't see what the problem is then."

"The princesses are missing. They are extremely serious during times like these. Chief Running Bear—"

"Chief Running Bear!" exclaimed Ellie. "So they really do have names like that?"

"Chief Running Bear," continued Inks, ignoring her, "will not permit games and such at times like these." He sounded as if he was reciting from a book.

"But we won't be playing a game when we go to the redskin village."

Inks sighed. Didn't this girl understand? "They've been known to turn on us. And when they did, they were entirely serious."

"But—"

"Listen, Ellie Rose. No, no, and no. That's that. Peter asked me to look after you and that is what I'm going to do."

Ellie made a sound of disgust. "I don't need you to look after me. I'm not a baby," she grumbled. 

"Peter's rules," said Inks, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Peter this, Peter that. Can't you think for yourself?"

"I'm thinking for myself when I say this: We can't go to the redskin village. I'd rather not be tied up for hours waiting for Peter to come back with the princesses. _If he comes back with the princesses. He's never had to save two before." _

Ellie sighed, feeling slightly defeated. "Fine. I'm going inside. I'll be in Peter's room." 

"Do you remember the way?"

"Yes."

Inks went his own way, saying that he would be outside and one of the girls could help her find him if she needed him. 

Ellie watched him go and then smiled to herself. No way would she stay behind while Peter was adventuring. It was not fair. Why should she stay behind, bored out of her mind? No. It was time for a little action. 

Hmm. I wonder what Ellie's gon' do/where she's going. She _couldn't be going after Peter, could she? She would __never do something like that._

January 14, 2003

Copyright, theMuse


	10. Deep Water

**Author's Note: **It's been a long time…I've had stuff to do. You understand, don't you? Well, I'm back on track now. Hopefully. I hope this chapter is up to par with the rest of them.

_Only In Your Wildest Neverdreams_

_* * *_

_Chapter Ten_

_* * *_

"What do you _mean, _he's not here?" demanded Ellie. 

"They said he's not here," repeated Sky. "And they were very rude about it." 

Ellie stared and her, along with Clear, in disbelief. They had flown all that way to the redskin village just to find that _Peter was not there._ And she could not even fly very well. 

Serves me right, she thought to herself. Inks told me not to come here. Ellie had gone against Inks warning, though. She had asked Sky and Clear to come along with her to the village (Ta-Ta did not want to come) and they had agreed, having nothing better to do. But it was not worth it. Actually, it turned out to be a waste of time. 

"But," continued Sky, "they did say where he is." 

Ah, now they were getting somewhere. 

"Dead Man's Bluff." 

Ellie saw a smile emerge on Clear's face. She could not read it. "Dead Man's Bluff?" The place had a dangerous ring to it. "What's Dead Man's Bluff?"

Clear answered her, but did not answer her question. "My favorite place to play with pirates," she said, unsheathing her small sword and flying into the air. "Come on," she called, looking down at the two girls. When they did not immediately fly after her, she went on without them. 

Sky glanced at Ellie, who gave her a quizzical look in return. 

"Yes, I know," said Sky. "She's fought in a lot of battles there. After her brother died, she's been after pirates' blood. It is terrible. She is a good fighter; don't get me wrong, but her hate…I think it's consuming her. She does not talk nearly as much as she used to and all she thinks about is killing pirates. And she hates Oliver especially." 

Sky flew into the air and waited for Ellie to lift off, who did with some difficulty. They began to fly, slowly, for Ellie's sake. "Why Oliver especially?" she asked. What did Oliver have to do with anything? 

"He betrayed us, betrayed her," Sky answered. "I am going to fly a little faster so that I can keep Clear in my eyesight, okay? I want us all to be together when we get there. Try to keep up." 

With that, she sped off, going slow enough just so that Ellie could see her. Ellie continued to wonder about what Sky had said about Oliver. 

There they are, thought Peter. Before him was Hook, Smee, the two princesses, three other pirates that Peter did not recognize…and _Oliver._ He could feel the hate building up but pushed it aside for the time being. He had to concentrate. He had to think of a plan to rescue the princesses from Dead Man's Bluff. 

Dead Man's Bluff was a very tall and steep cliff with a rock overhanging a vast amount of water. The Bluff sometimes produced a waterfall, but only when it decided to. At the moment, a waterfall spilled over the side. It was quite extraordinary actually, because there was no water source from which it spilled. It just did. The protruding rock was bare with no vegetation, unlike what one would come across during the climb up (grass and trees and anything else imaginable). 

On this hard rock was where the two princesses sat, tied back to back amidst the pirates, minus two. Oliver sat along the side, legs dangling and looking over the distance, head in his hands. Hook, on the other hand, was pacing in a slow circle, muttering to himself. Peter could not make out what he was saying. 

Peter sighed, ducking down as he impatiently continued to wait for Wild Horse and Tinkerbell as he had been doing for the past ten minutes. Where were they? There was only so long a boy could wait. Maybe it was a bad idea to let Wild Horse ride. He should have demanded that he fly. 

But wait. Why did he even need Wild Horse and Tinkerbell? Wild Horse was taking his sweet time and Tinkerbell was not as reliable as he thought her to be. In addition to this, Peter had saved Tiger Lily countless times. He could _definitely _save two at a time if he could save one. It would be no different except for the fact that he would have to fend off the pirates for a longer period of time, but that would only allow for more fun to occur. 

Although he was disappointed in Tinkerbell, her voice rang through his head.

_"Wait for us, Peter. You remember what the Chief said. You will need help." _

Peter shook his head, annoyed. Why did he have to care what she thought? She was not his mother. There was only one person who filled that position and she was dead now. Sighing heavily, he discarded his thoughts of Wendy out of his head. Now was not the time to obsess over her. He had a job to do. 

Then, Peter decided to fly to the bottom of the Bluff to wait for Wild Horse and Tinkerbell. It was a wise decision, for shortly after, the two arrived. 

"Where have you been?" Peter asked. 

"It is a far ride, Peter Pan," Wild Horse answered simply. "If Tinkerbell had not been with me, I would still be riding." 

Tinkerbell landed on Peter's shoulder. He did not respond, just ignored her. "Well, I have a plan," he said, looking at Wild Horse. "Why don't you go first, diverting their attention? Then, when they're focusing on you, I'll untie the princesses."

Wild Horse thought for a moment. "Are you sure?" he finally asked. "Perhaps the Captain and his men will not react the way you think." 

"Trust me," assured Peter. "I know them well enough. Just play with them a little. Keep them talking. You can even lie a bit. I know! Say that the Chief is here, at the bottom of the Bluff and he wants to negotiate with Hook. Then, when you lead them to the bottom, I'll get the princesses." 

After some time, Wild Horse finally nodded. "I hope you are right, Peter Pan," he said before making his way up the Bluff. 

"Be careful, Peter," cautioned Tinkerbell as he flew around the cliff. 

I will, he thought. Of course. 

Ellie landed, relieved and proud of herself. "I think I finally have the hang of this flying thing." 

"This is it!" exclaimed Clear. "Come on!" She began to trek up the Bluff. 

Ellie looked at Sky. "Is it me, or does she seem a bit enthusiastic?" 

"She's more than a bit enthusiastic," said Sky, following after Clear, who had already cleared a portion of the Bluff far from the ground. "She's ecstatic." 

Sky and Ellie climbed in silence for a time, concentrating on stepping in the right spots and reaching for the right places. 

Looking up again, Ellie noticed that Clear was far ahead of them. She had reached a portion where she could stand on level ground. Just before rounding a corner, Clear called, "Hurry up!"

Sky just shook her head. After a time, the two girls also reached the ground where they had last seen Clear. They rounded the corner. 

Ellie immediately jumped, surprised. Before her was the man from her dream, the Captain himself. Beside him, Clear struggled in the arms of another pirate who had placed his hand over her mouth. _"Ow!" _cried the pirate, wrenching his hand from her mouth and shaking it. "She bit me! She _bit _me! The lit'l wench bit me! You're goin' ta pay fer that, you lit'l bitch!" 

"Language, Jennings, she's a lady," Hook said. 

Sky, who was in shock, backed right into Ellie. Instantly, she was grabbed by another pirate and was thrown over his shoulder. The same was done to Ellie. "Put me _down!_" demanded Ellie, pounding on her capturer's back. "I can stand on my own, you know!" 

"Put them down," ordered Hook. "But not that one," he added, referring to Clear, who was still struggling. 

When Sky reached the ground, she gave the pirate who had set her down a hasty kick in this shin.

_"Shit!" _he yelped, grabbing his shin and hopping up and down. 

There was a slight laugh and then a round of coughing. It was as if the owner of the laugh was trying to hide it. Ellie looked to see Oliver, covering his mouth. He glanced at her, winked, and looked away. For some reason, Ellie found herself looking away in embarrassment. 

"Shall we continue down, Cap'n?" 

"No, Smee. We seem to have a few extras to add to our little kidnapping party. We will wait for Peter Pan  at the top of the Bluff as originally planned. Our little envoy, Wild Horse, can relay the message to the Chief at the bottom of the cliff," answered Hook. He clapped a hand on the shoulder of a redskin. 

What's he doing here, wondered Ellie. Who is he? 

"But in order to do that," he continued. "The Chief would have to be at the bottom of the Bluff, correct, Wild Horse?" His eyes burned into the young redskin's. 

Wild Horse contained himself, keeping a straight face. "I do not know what you are talking about, Captain Hook." 

Hook gave a small laugh. "Oh, come now. You and I both know that the Chief is not really waiting for us at the bottom. It is some scheme that you have concocted. I only meant to go to amuse you with whatever plan you have decided to spring upon me. Why do you think I left one of my men at the top of the Bluff?" Before Wild Horse could answer again, Captain Hook began to walk back up, which was an easier walk from that point. The rest followed him.

Upon reaching the top, they found that the princesses had been untied and Peter Pan was happily engaged in a sword fight with the pirate that Hook had left behind. It was unfair, really. Peter was a much better fighter than he. 

"Oh, hello, Captain," he greeted cheerily without missing a step. Then, he saw the two Lost Girls and Ellie. "What are you doing with those three?" He flew away from the pirate and landed in front of the princesses, who were near the edge of the cliff. 

Hook sneered. "We collected them on the way down," he replied. "I am willing to trade." 

"Let them go, Hook!" demanded Peter. "This has nothing to do with them." 

"Jennings, Mason," said the Captain, ignoring Peter. "Take care of Master Pan." He knew what he requested was impossible, but as long as Peter was busy dodging his men, it would give time for West, another one of his men, to grab the princesses. He would trust Smee and Oliver to keep the three Lost Girls under control.  

"Come now, Miss," said Smee, holding on to Sky's leg, who was trying to fly away. Meanwhile, Clear, who was tucked in his other arm, was elbowing him repeatedly. "Don't fight," he grunted between hits. 

Ellie was thrown over Oliver's back and was not enjoying it one bit. "Put me down, Oliver!" she demanded. "Right now!"

He smirked. "Why? I rather like this view," he remarked, referring to her back side. 

Her eyes burned with anger and she shrieked, twisting so that she could bite his ear. It was his turn to scream in pain, all the while dropping her in the process. Ellie took this opportunity to run. But where?

Peter and the redskin were fighting three pirates at once, the princesses behind them. Hook was trying to help Smee get control of Sky and Clear, and Oliver—

Ellie just barely jumped out of his grasp, falling backwards in the process. He advanced upon her. Come on, fly, fly, she thought furiously. It was in vain and the only thing she obtained was a headache, not flight. She backed away, eyes flittering about, surveying her surroundings. But the only thing that surrounded her was the sides of the cliff; she was nearing the very edge, the drop. 

"Careful," warned Oliver. "You don't want to fa—" His warning was cut short as he fell forward, bumped by Mason, who had been trying to dodge an attack. In the process of falling forward, Oliver startled Ellie. She stepped backwards too quickly and slipped.

_"No!" _Ellie screamed, grabbing a hold of the edge of the rock. As she dangled over the edge, she could hear water rushing below her, scaring her even more. She tried to pull herself up, but only lost grip of the rock and began to fall.

 Oliver, seeing this, rushed forward to help her. He caught three of her fingers and Ellie cried out in pain. _"Don't let me fall, don't let me fall!" _she yelled. A few tears ran down her face. 

He could not hold her. Oliver tried to reach down with his other arm, but could not do it. "Help!" he called behind him, feeling Ellie's fingers slipping. 

But it was too late. Ellie fell to the water below. And she could not swim.

So, what do you think? I would really love to know. Oh, and thank you for all the reviews. 

March 9, 2003

Copyright, theMuse


	11. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

I'm just writing this (to all the people who _have been reading my story) that it'll be a while until I update. My disk didn't save and I was in the midst of writing a new chapter and guess what else! IT DELETED ALL MY FORMER CHAPTERS. Yeah, I'm more than a little _pissed off _about that…so, please, if you _have _been waiting for the next chapter, you'll have to wait a little longer. _

I also want to say thank you for all the reviews. They really do mean a lot. 

-theMuse-


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